Hey everyone, my name is Matt, and my fiance (Jillian) and I are about to adopt our first pit!! We are so incredibly excited. We live in Raleigh, NC area (so if any of you are Raleigh pit owners, hit me up so we can set up play dates)

She and I have both grown up with dogs our whole lives...She has been with Boston Terriers & Labs....I grew up with an awesome boxer. We've moved into our new house with her cat & decided its time to get a dog finally. A pit was our first choice since 1. so many of them need homes (a shocking amount...i was so depressed when I saw how many need homes), 2. their loyalty & trainability, 3. their big silly grins.

Our first priority was a cat friendly dog & we thought it might take a while to find one....but we found one almost immediately! We're going through Carolina Care Bullies & we found COOPER!

His foster mom has been incredible...she's been very thorough & describing his schedules & motivators & training goals. And as you can see from the photo, she has cats!!! He's very cat/dog/people/kid friendly...it seems we've found the perfect dog for our house.

A volunteer from CCB is coming by Thursday to evaluate the home & then we'll start scheduling a time to pick up Cooper! We're so incredibly excited to continue his training...we're doing the 2 week shut down & then keeping up with all the fantastic training his foster mom has done. She even says he'd be a great candidate for a CGC!

We're just so happy we can give a wonderful dog a safe & structured forever home. I expect to get as much from Cooper as he gets from us....we'll stay in shape better (he loves to run...I'm hoping to be able to teach him to run with me while I bike), we'll be more patient & confident, & we'll have such a wonderful addition into our lives. Oh and now the cat will have a play friend

Question....how long after getting our dog should we take him to the vet for his first "regular" check up? After the 2 week shut down (barring any unforeseen sickness/accidents)? Cos I need heartworm & flea/tick medication.

Also, do you guys and gals usually get the flea/tick & hearworm meds from the vet, or the kind at PetCo/Walmart/PetSmart/etc.

Question....how long after getting our dog should we take him to the vet for his first "regular" check up? After the 2 week shut down (barring any unforeseen sickness/accidents)? Cos I need heartworm & flea/tick medication.

Also, do you guys and gals usually get the flea/tick & hearworm meds from the vet, or the kind at PetCo/Walmart/PetSmart/etc.

Isn't heartworm only available at the vet?

Welcome to the forum and i look forward to seeing more pics of Cooper. he looks like a very pretty boy! How old do they think he is? Also, thanks for adopting

Im not sure on "when" because the rescue i adopted from had all her shots, heart worm, and check ups, as well as a spay and microchip done before i could take her home.

As far as doing it yourself, i took my girl to a local shot clinic recently (the kind that are at pet/feed stores every so often) and they took her blood and sent it out for testing, and i got my heart worm meds thru them. the only thing i know of that you must get done at a vet is the rabies shot, which is coming up soon for my girl (oh joy)

Flea and tick meds can be purchased anywhere, i recommend frontline or advantage and costco sells frontline for a pretty good price.

He will come up to date on shots/neutered/microchipped, so no worries there. I just figure its good to take all the medical records to my local vet, have the vet meet him & go ahead & establish that relationship. I'll need heartworm meds anyway to give to him once a month.

also, i was really surprised when we were out today getting stuff for him that NOWHERE carries Break Sticks.

A lady at our cool awesome local pet store didn't even know what they were, then said later they don't carry them since "they're associated with dog fighting and used to pull dogs off one another". I replied "but any responsible Pit Bull owner should have one, just in case of an emergency."

She replied "yeah but its no replacement for good training."

uhhh....did i say it was? didn't i JUST say it was for an emergency? Obviously I'm not buying Taste of the Wild dog food, a comfy crate mat & some Nylabones so I can fight this dog....I just thought that comment was a bit rude & uneducated.

Anyways....then we went to Pet Smart & they didn't carry them either.....so I just had to order one online. I guess I understand their association & I understand their choice not to carry the Break Sticks, but that comment sort of rubbed me the wrong way.

You can get H/W meds from the vet or from a clinic(Spay/Neuter) if you have one near by. The flea/tick I order from Jeffers(or something similar online) normally because it's a lil cheaper. Sometimes, if I forget to order it, I'll buy a small pack from the pet store.

mhuxtable wrote:A lady at our cool awesome local pet store didn't even know what they were, then said later they don't carry them since "they're associated with dog fighting and used to pull dogs off one another". I replied "but any responsible Pit Bull owner should have one, just in case of an emergency."

The only thing i need for my pit bull is an emergancy tail cushion and something to make her stop licking people